India's forest cover up by 1% over last 3 years

The country's forest and tree cover have increased by 8,021 sq km, a rise of one per cent compared to 2015, the biennial India State of Forest Report (ISFR) revealed on Monday. The forest and tree cover of 8,02,088 sq km covered 24.39 per cent geographical area of the country and is still short of India's target of 33 per cent as stated in the National Forest Policy, 1988. Of the 8,021 sq km increase, 6,788 sq.km was added to the forest cover and 1,243 sq.km was added to the tree cover.

A density-wise breakup of forest cover showed that cover of very dense forests had increased by 1.36 per cent. All lands with tree canopy density of 70 per cent and above are classified as very dense forests (VDFs). These forests have the highest capacity to absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide. The moderately dense forests (MDFs), on the other hand, decreased by 4421 sq.km. Areas with canopy density of 40 per cent and more and less than 70 per cent are MDFS.

The total carbon stock in the country's forest is estimated to be 7,082 million tonnes, which shows an increase of 38 million tonnes, as compared to the previous assessment, the report said. "The rise in VDFs show that along with quantity, there has also been a qualitative improvement in the forest cover. As far as reduction in MDFs is concerned, it might be the case that some MDF's may have increased in density and some may have decreased," said Siddhanta Das, Director General, Forests, Ministry of Environment and Forest.

Interestingly, four states - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Odisha - alone account for 76 per cent of the rise in India's forest cover since 2015 indicating a skewed distribution of forest cover.

The assessment, for the first time, also analysed the distribution under different sizes of forest patches, ranging from as low as 0.01 sq.km to greater than 10,000 sq.km of forest patchy. The report revealed that more than 40 percent of the forest cover is contained in nine patches each having greater than 10,000 sq km of forest. Also, 65 patches, each having an area above 1,000 sq.km covers more than 65 percent of the forest cover in the country.

The largest of such patches lies in the North Eastern states and covers an area of 1,58,439 sq.km.

The assessment of India's forest and tree cover was led by Dehradun based Forest Survey of India using indigenous LISS-III satellite data with a spatial resolution of 23.5 meters resulting in the ability to map even one hectare unit of forests. As part of the 2017 assessment, FSI analysed forest data of 633 districts using new and updated district boundaries and open series maps from Survey of India, as opposed to analysis of 593 districts in 2015.

The mangrove forest cover in the country, found across nine states and three union territories, have increased to 4921 sq.km, 181 sq.km more than the previous assessment. Maharashtra added the maximum mangrove cover, 82 sq.km, since 2015, and the report attributed this rise to plantations and regeneration.

Environment minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the report showed that despite the human pressures, the forest cover has shown growth. "India is ranked 10th in the world, with 24.4% of land area under forest and tree cover, even though it accounts for 2.4 % of the world surface area and sustains the needs of 17 % of human and 18 % livestock population," said Vardhan.